Sorry for the lack of updates but my phone did some UI update on me and I couldn't login from it to Locals. Last Friday I got my new hip . Under the retarded socialized healthcare rules in Canada if I didn't want to wait 6 years and have it done in Alberta I had to leave the province. Sandi and I traveled to Montreal. The experience was new as I've lived a pretty clean, if hard life and have only ever had minor brushes with Drs. I think I bleed more getting the spinal needle in than the surgery! LOL It seems at some point in life I broke the fins off a couple of vertebrae in my back and the resulting recalcification of the breaks plugged off the access points for the spinal needle. Eventually they went up a couple of vertebrae and put me down. I surfaced in the OR as they were unstrapping me and so I asked the Dr to see the used parts. His eyebrows shot into his hair but he showed me. I wish I would have had a camera to take a picture. The old ball was ~2" in diameter. The wear pattern was fascinating. Think of a rectangle 3/4" wide with full round radiused ends. Drape that over the top of the ball so it comes about halfway down each side. The strip was bare bone and flat rather than round like the rest of the ball. This is what I had wore down. The Dr had to add 3mm to the fixture set to get my legs the same length. He gave me half a wheel alignment. All my life I have been out toed now my left foot points perfectly forward. Operation started at 9:30 and by 4 pm they walked me to x-ray for the picture. On day 3 Sandi and I flew to Edmonton and spent the night. Next morning I crawled in the back of Sandi's SUV and she chauffeured me the 4.5 hours home. On Day 5 I went and got a hot shave as I wanted my goatee of 26 years back. Today I had my first shower and life is good!!